screeria -- nigeria. - i may

consume. thank you mr. speaker. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized. mr. lucas: mr. speaker, when i was a boy my father used to point out to me that there were certain moments, certain events that not only define perhaps a community or a generation but leave an indelible mark on a person. he referenced me to go speak to my grandparents about where they were when the news came that pearl harbor had been

bombed and i can remember my grandfather lucas describing the exact field, the exact row that he was picking cotton in in december of 1941 when one of the neighbors stopped and said have you heard? my father could tell you exactly the moment walking down the street in elk city, oklahoma when he walked up to a crowd staring into a store selling televisions because everyone's mouth was down, everyone was aghast of the news in dallas. in many ways, the experience of two minutes after 9:00 a.m. on april 19, 1995, has had the same mark and the same effect on not only myself, my colleagues in this delegation but our communities in the country. like my grandfather remembering

the moment that he found out about pearl harbor, my father the moment he understood that president kennedy had been assassinated, i'll never forget sitting with the oklahoma delegation waiting to give testimony in a brac hearing in dallas when a reporter taffed tapped me on the shoulder, a reporter i'd known for some time and he said, we have a report that there's been an explosion at the federal building in oklahoma city. they say the building is gone. your district office is in one of those federal buildings in downtown oklahoma city. which building are your people in? a moment that i'll never forget. the delegation got up and in mass we rushed out into the lobby and there on the television monitors was the building that we recognized as

the shell of the measureo building. it literally was gone. -- shell of the murrow building. it literally was gone. my folks were spare but 168 of our good fellow citizens in oklahoma city that day were not. and this sunday morning we will gather to remember that event 20 years ago. an event that's changed us all forever. i'm proud of my oklahoma delegation here today because we still work now as we did 20 years ago to address those issues. and i'll yield to one of my colleagues from oklahoma who was at that time secretary of state for the state of oklahoma , one of the folks in the inner circle in governor keating's administration as state government responded to

something that no one could have expected. i yield to the gentleman. mr. cole: i thank my friend for yielding. and i thank you for having this extraordinary moment not only for our state and for what was then his district but i think for americans every where, 20 years ago on april 19 of 1995 we saw a domestic tragedy of historic proportions. it's still the largest single act of domestic terrorism in american history. and it was totally unexpected totally unanticipated and extraordinarily devastating to the people involved and i think to the country as a whole. but sometimes out of a tragedy of that proportion a triumph emerges and that certainly what occurred in oklahoma city on april 19, 1995, and the days

that followed. our first thoughts on the 20th anniversary is always of the victims. the 168 lives that were lost, 19 of them children unknowing that disaster was about to overtake them. and of the many dozens who were wounded severely and have still to this daycarey those injuries with them. and then next we think always of the first responders, particularly the oklahoma city fire and police officers that immediately rushed to the scene, the surrounding fire and police departments that were rapidly mobilized to assist them the oklahoma national guard that was there within a matter of hours but frankly rescue teams from all across the united states of america who immediately moved in our direction to help our people. and i think of the people of oklahoma next who stunned but

rallied enormously with enormous speed and with great courage try and support each and every way they could the folks that -- whose lives had been lost and the people that were still in danger. i still remember that day at the governor's office. at the end of the day 2:00 in the morning, driving from the capital toward my home in moore oklahoma, and seeing a line of people outside the blood center at 2:00 in the morning still there and wanting to help and be supportive in whatever way that they could. but we were really, really blessed at that particular moment in the history of our state and in the history of our country with extraordinary leadership. i think first always because i worked for governor keating as his secretary of state the manner in which he responded. like my friend, mr. lucas, i

heard about this totally unexpectedly. i was literally walking into the capitol at 9:02 in a tunnel and felt a little shutter. walked into my office and i got a -- my secretary immediately walked in and said your wife is on the phone. she was working two blocks away from the site of the bombing. she was on the 18th floor of a building. she said i don't know what's happened but i'm looking down i can see an enormous smoke and explosion occurred and there are hundreds of people on the street fleeing from this disaster. my office was below the governor's office on the first floor of the capitol and i went up -- and this was maybe eight minutes into the event -- and walked in because i knew the governor would be focused on this, obviously and he was standing in the pressroom immediately to the right as you walk in and at that time there were already helicopters in the air and on the scene we were

seeing horrific sights and the speculation immediately it was some sort of natural gas explosion. well, frank keating, our governor, was also a former f.b.i. agent who had been trained in investigating terrorism in the 1960's. former tulsa prosecutor. former u.s. attorney. former associate attorney general of the united states. and he knew what he was looking at and he immediately looked at that television set, i'll never forget what he said, that is not a natural gas explosion. that's a car bomb of some sort. he knew instantly what he was dealing with. and on that day and in the subsequent days he led with extraordinary distinction in mobilizing resources leading from the front, being on the front line, was an exceptional act of public leadership fran official who was less than 100 days into his -- from an official who was less than 100 days into his term.

equally impressive was the leadership of his wife, our first laidy kathy keating. most of america knows of the memorial service that took place on sunday after the disaster. i remember the night after the disaster being at the governor's mansion and we were still -- we didn't know how many people had been lost. we didn't know if there were survivors still in the building. there were search teams. we were dealing with a disaster of national -- really, international proportions and kathy keating came to the meeting and said we need to have some sort of service to memorialize the people that had been lost. people are grieving and they want to participate. and i remember thinking at the time, my goodness, how in the world can we ever pull this off? we're dealing with more in an we can deal with, let alone organizing something like that. and yet -- and i made that point. and she said, don't worry. i will take over. and she did. and america -- not just oklahoma city and oklahoma --

were given a moment to mourn, a moment that attracted the president of the united states. billy graham. a national audience and thousands of oklahomans who simply wanted to get together and pay tribute to those who had lost their lives. it was an exceptional act of public leadership on her part. and the two of them set up a foundation to take care of the educational needs of anyone who had lost a parent, let alone two parents, in the course of that. and that institution still functions till this day. again exceptional leadership. and we've had other moments of tragedy in our country like 9/11 and just as rudy giuliani was, quote, america's mayor on that day, ron norig in oklahoma was america's day. it was an amazing performance as i got together his police and his firefighters and was immediately on the scene and one of the great public

servants that i've ever seen. and i would be remiss not to mention my friend behind me, mr. lucas, as he alluded to in his remarks that was his district office, one building over. that was a place where he was in and out of a lot in the federal building and my task as secretary of state signed by -- assigned by the governor was to work in weab to try to coordinate with the federal government a long-term rebuilding effort. nobody did more to rebuild oklahoma city than frank lucas. . this was not a natural disaster, this was literally an attack on a federal facility in oklahoma city with a unique federal responsibility. those are all things that frank lucas got done not just for the people of his district but the people of our state. frankly, in that he set some

precedents that served the people from new york on 9/11 awfully well in addition. the last person i want to mention is the president of the united states at the time. i'm a pretty good republican and i can't say i voted for bill clinton. but i was very glad he was president of the united states at that moment. nobody helped us more. i will never forget 1:00 in the afternoon, day of disaster, we had moved the governor to a civil defense facility below ground. at the capitol. he was directing affairs there. we got a call from the president of the un . . clinton had actually gone to school together. they went to georgetown together. frank keating was president of the college -- student body when bill clinton was president of the sophomore class. they knew one another. first thing the president asked was, governor do you have any

idea who is responsible for this? there were all sorts of wild reports on television, a lot of speculation. and the governor being a law enforcement professional immediately responded, mr. president, we have no idea. we do not know who did this. i know you're hearing foreign terrorists, all sorts of things. we don't know yet. it's too chaotic for us to know. president clinton at that point said something that really struck me and struck me more later. he said, well, i hope it wasn't a foreign national. i remember it being almost shocked you would hope that an american had done something thisfall. but then he added profetically as it turned out several years later because if it was we'll be at war someplace in the world within six months. he was absolutely right. he too, understood the dimensions of the tradgedy. in the days ahead, everything -- tragedy. in the days ahead, everything we asked for and all the resources and compassion that a great people like the united states of

america and its citizens can muster was immediately at our disposal. i remember president clinton when we announced we were doing the ceremony, discreetly was approached by a member in his administration, you know, the president would like to be here but we certainly don't want to be here if it's inappropriate. and i said look, i have to go clear that with the governor, but i can tell you i know what frank keating's response is going to be. of course we would welcome the president of the united states. he did, indeed, come. he not only helpeds through -- helped us through it, he helped us emotionally through it. as did the first lady, hillary rodham clinton at the time. also made that journey. and was there to help and comfort people. we may have our political differences from time to time as americans. but in times of tragedy, we stick together. we come together. we pull together and work to help one another.

certainly president clinton did that. finally, let me just make this observation. i want -- and this expression of gratitude. i want to use this occasion to thank the millions and millions of americans who responded with their prayers, with their help, the rescue workers that came, the donations that flowed in from all across the country to help the victims and the families of the victims. that came, frankly from around the world. because we had international help as well. and i want to remind people that whenever they lose faith in the united states of america, or just the shear decency of people , think of the oklahoma city bombing. think of the magnificent performance of this country, not just of the people on the scene. but of the support this country directed toward its fellow citizens in a time of

difficulty. and of the many prayers and expressions of good will and condolence from around the world as people rallied in the face of what was unspeakable act of terror. we had our moment of tragedy, but we have had 20 years of triumph since then. that triumph's not just the try um of the of the -- triumph of the people of oklahoma city, but it's an american triumph and human triumph of enormous dimensions and great consequence . mr. lucas: thank you, congressman cole. i certainly want to acknowledge congressman mullin and congressman bridenstine. now, mr. speaker, i would like to yield to conclude to congressman russell, who has the responsibility of representing that site in the fifth district of oklahoma to conclude with a few comments.

congressman russell. congressman russell: thank you, congressman lucas, and to my friends and colleagues. thank you, mr. speaker. on april 19, 1995 i was defending my country as an officer in the united states army. we were preparing as warriors to defend our country never imagining that an attack would occur in our hometown. among the 168 people that were killed, and the 689 nonfatal fatalities the buildings that were destroyed or damaged in a 16-block radius, the $652 million worth of damage that was caused in my hometown there were a number of brother warriors and sister warriors that were defending their

country at their duty stations at the recruiting depots that were contained in the federal building. victoria master sergeant in the united states army. ben min -- benjamin davis a sarent in the united states marine corps. akisha, airman first class in the united states air force. randolph guzman, captain in the united states marine corps. cart any mccraven, an airman first class in the united states air force. and lola bolden, a sergeant first class in the united states army. never imagining that in their recruiting duties in oklahoma city that they would give their lives in defense of their country. and to my colleagues and to congressman lucas, i would ask that we could observe a moment of silence in memory to all the

168 americans, oklahomans friends, that were killed in this despicable act of terror on our domestic shores. and to all of those that carry the scars and injuries to this day if we could observe a brief moment of silence. i thank my colleague and friend, congressman lucas, and thank you, mr. speaker. i yield back to my colleague. mr. lucas: mr. speaker there's no way that the oklahoma delegation can express our thanks to the country for the help over the last 20 years. but with this moment of silence just now we ask that everyone, two minutes after 9:00 central time this sunday morning think about those 168 souls those

killed, and those who survived

each week, american history tv's "reel america" brings archival films that help tell the story of the 20th century. 70 years ago on april 12 1945, only three months after his unprecedented fourth inauguration, president franken roosevelt died well visiting his little white house in warm springs, georgia. up next, an 11 minute newsreel covering the funeral and president harry truman's first address to congress. the national archives recently restore the film. ♪ ♪